Chapter Five: More Confessions

Naruto looked at Sa's tormentors, too upset to even be able to pick apart his jumbled feelings. How should he even begin? He settled on Tenten. "Why?"

She shook her head frantically. "I thought it was a joke. Really, I had too much to drink and Kiba was laughing and it was … just razzing somebody like we always do, yō. Nobody takes it seriously. I mean, Sakura and Hinata were doing it, too. And Sasuke was really calm. If he was upset, I didn't know it. Honestly, the two of you were always so circumspect. I had no idea there was even a grain of truth to the jab. Sumi masen!"

Naruto nodded curtly and turned his back on her. "I guess you didn't know him well enough. That's why you shouldn't haze nin. You never know who might be irreparably hurt."

"Gomen'nasai!"

"You're demoted to Genin. Promise me you'll never do this again."

"I swear to the God of Shinobi that this will never happen again."

Naruto blinked. Hashirama was an oddly appropriate entity to swear upon, considering the circumstances. Not that he was going to tell them that. He turned to Kiba. "Why?"

"I'm so sorry!" Kiba looked devastated and words tumbled out of his mouth at top speed. "I would never hurt either of you on purpose, swear to God. I admire Sasuke. He really changed a lot after the War. Please, Naruto, you know how it is with tough guys. We razz each other all the time. I was waiting for him to sling an insult back. He's so good at it. His humour is so dry. I got carried away trying to get a response out of him. I didn't know. I should have known. He's always so inscrutable. He … he's fun to tease. I've done it before and he shot a good one right back at me. Please, I didn't mean it, yō. I was only joking. I've been worried ever since. Is he okay?"

Naruto clamped his lips together, took a deep breath and let Kiba see the merest hint of his anger. "He is decidedly not okay."

"Please," Kiba fell and pressed his forehead to the floor. "Please Naruto-kun, forgive me!"

Naruto turned his back on Kiba. "Kiba, I forgive you, but I will never be able to forget. You will address me formally from now on."

"Yes, Lord Seventh."

"Sit down. Lord Kakashi, I find myself unable to select a punishment for my former friend. I ask that my chosen family choose one on Sasuke's behalf."

"Noted, Lord Seventh."

"You'll have to choose one for these two as well. I can't be unbiased."

"Noted, Lord Seventh."

Naruto crossed his arms and glared at Ino and Sai. "Why?"

"Because you were hurting Sakura!" Ino spat. "It was getting harder to play house, wasn't it, Naruto? And it hurt her. So much! Why would you—"

Sai put his arm in front of his wife. "Stop talking." His eyes glittered darkly as he stared up at Naruto. "If you're going to judge us, you should be wearing your robes, Hokage."

Naruto's head tilted slightly sideways. "You want me to put on my cape, do you? Make it official? Throw my weight around, maybe?"

Sai crossed his arms. "Whatever."

Naruto crossed the room in a flash and whipped his cape in the air. Rusty powder floated like dust motes in the sun entering through the window. He threw it around his shoulders. The winter wool was much heavier than usual. The blood was caked on, dark, stiff and rotting. Still gooey in places. There wasn't an inch of material on the back that wasn't saturated in it.

"Papa!" Sarada screamed.

Naruto held out his arms and turned a full circle as the nin who cared about him cried out and made noises of dismay, then paced back over to Sai. He held the material right up to Sai's nose. "Satisfied?"

Sai was paler than Naruto had ever seen him. As pale as Sasuke had been on Sunday morning.

"I know we didn't get along very well at first," Naruto said to Sai, pacing back and forth in front of the four accused. "But I thought we got past that. Became friends."

"I was never part of Team Seven!" Sai roared. "I thought I was. I earned my place, to omō. Earned my place. A place not deserved by that criminal otokonoko." There was a crack and Sai's head jerked sideways. He covered his cheek as blood ran out of the corner of his mouth.

Naruto resumed pacing.

"And then he showed up at the final battle," Sai continued. "Danced in like he'd never done anything wrong. Like he wasn't a murderer. And I tried to fight alongside you and got knocked off my Super Eagle, and you caught me and set me aside like I was nothing. Useless. You finished the fight without me. You, and Sakura, and him, as though you'd been fighting together every day for years. The most beautiful dance I'd ever seen. And it was supposed to be me."

A quiet sob broke the silence. Naruto glanced down at Ino. She was rocking herself and tears were coursing down her cheeks. Her face looked so sore. He warmed a bit of golden chakra on his hand and glided it over her face, draining out the bee venom. Ino looked up at him from under her lashes. He felt a strange kind of sympathy. She loved her husband. Naruto crossed his arms and looked back at Sai.

"You deserve an honest answer. I'm sorry that it will be an unkind one. You were never a part of Dojo Shunsoku Shindo and you just weren't in our league," he said. "You were a strong and brave shinobi. I respected that. But you can't do what the Sage of Six Paths didn't design you to do."

"Fuck you!"

"Oh, you already did that," Naruto said mildly. "Fucked me up almost fatally. And I think you had a deeper motive than feeling slighted or being homophobic. Was this actually payback for Sasuke killing Shimura Danzō?"

"Danzō-sama was a good master! And he loved Konahagakure."

Naruto nodded. "Are you aware that Shimura twisted Itachi's mind? He convinced him to exterminate the Uchiha Clan so he could steal all their Sharingan eyes. Itachi was barely fourteen, yō. He massacred two hundred and fifty-six men and both of his parents. One of the Akatsuke—who was also an Uchiha—took advantage and murdered over a thousand women and children, and obliterated the entire 500 member police force—half of whom were not even Uchiha. And y'know what? Itachi was a better hito than you. He put the village above everything else. He loved his family. He had a girl he was sweet on. And he saved Sasuke from Danzō."

"How do you know?" Sai sneered. "Sasuke killed his psychopathic brother, by all accounts, years before the Fourth War."

"Oh, I met him. Several times: in reality, in the psychic space and through Kabuto's Edo Tensei. He wasn't psychotic. We became friends. Itachi approved of me and said he was counting on me to take care of Sasuke." But Naruto, while trying to respect Sasuke's right to self-determination, had thoroughly failed at that.

"Did my Papa die?" Sarada shouted.

Naruto faced her squarely. He removed his cape and placed it on the hook where he normally kept it. The nin closest to it surreptitiously leaned away and some even covered their noses. Somebody gagged. Naruto backed away and hitched his butt back onto his desk. He was inured to the odour.

"Yes. He died."

Sarada screamed into her hands. As her knees gave way, Boruto lifted her onto his lap and shushed her.

Naruto held out his hands. "Sarada-chan, sumi masen, it was wrong of me to say it that way. I never said he stayed dead."

Kakashi leaped to his feet and slammed both hands on the desk. Lightning sparks flew. Around him, several of the esteemed leaders of the Leaf roared and flapped in frustration. Fluorescent blue tattoos flashed up Boruto's face and down his arms.

"Damn it, Naruto, what are you playing at?" Kakashi yelled.

Tsunade pushed Kakashi away from his chair and flopped into it. "I'm too old for this. Somebody get me a drink."

"Gomen'nasai," Naruto said. He wasn't in the least bit sorry for anyone save Sarada. "Did you all feel pain? Accept pain? Know pain? Those who do not know pain will never understand true peace. I will never forget the pain that Sasuke suffered. If some of you do not know the kind of pain that I am feeling right now, that Sasuke is feeling right now, you will know pain.* This jury will teach it to you."

"You said he wasn't feeling much of anything," Sarada protested. Naruto admired her bravery. "Did the Edo Tensei not work properly?"

"Sarada!" Kakashi and Tsunade yelled in unison. Naruto suppressed a smile and offered up thanks to Nagato.

"Who said anything about the Edo Tensei?" Naruto leaned forward, hands on his knees. "Do you honestly believe I would condone using such an impure jutsu on him? One that would require a human sacrifice, make him physically weak and corrupt, and leave his soul vulnerable to manipulation and abuse? One that would turn those beautiful eyes dirty grey forever? And what about the Rinnegan? Oi, does anybody know anyone with the Rinnegan around here? Ah, that's right! He got stabbed in the eye by Momoshiki while trying to save this world during the Otsutsuki Revival!"

Kakashi grabbed him by the front of his t-shirt. "That's it! I'm kicking your ass."

"Kick it later. When I'm done talking, and you've sentenced these assholes for me, you can kick it all you want."

Kakashi growled and shoved Naruto away. Stomping over to face the window, he wrenched his mask off, produced a handkerchief and scrubbed at his face with both hands. "Stupid, ignorant little shit! He was my student! You're hurting nin. I never knew you could be manipulative."

"Desperate times." Naruto put one sock-clad foot up on the desk. "Do you need a time out?"

Kakashi carefully replaced his mask, spun around and slapped Naruto upside the head. "Not one more minute! Finish this story right now or I'll toss you out the window!"

"You're listening, right?" Naruto said softly.

"Ha."

"Don't need to calm down?"

"Get on with it. I'll be dead of old age before you enlighten us."

Naruto looked up. "Shi-san, would you kindly get us all some water?"

"Hai, please," Tsunade groaned into her hands.

ChōChō stood up. "Team Ten can bring in some pitchers and cups if you tell me where to find them."

"There are casks of mineral water in my office," Shikamaru replied. "In the kitchenette. Cupboard over the coffee can."

"C'mon Team!" she said, and flitted out with Inojin and Shikadai. They returned in no time flat, blessing everyone with paper cups of delicious mineral water. Naruto sipped at his, thanking the Kami for the cold spring near the cliffs of the Sound. He set down his cup and sighed.

"On Saturday night, when all hell broke loose, I flipped my deadweight broken soulmate over my shoulders and cleared out as stinkin' quickly as possible. Kakashi-san went with me, and Lee caught up to us. Hey, Lee, can I call you Ro-kun?"

Lee looked pleased. "No one has ever called me by my first name. I would like that, Na-kun."

"Excellent. So Ro-kun handed me a bundle of clothes. How'd you get our stuff, anyway?"

"I am a ninja! I broke into your houses."

"Of course you did." Naruto drank another cup of water. "Ro-kun took Sa-kun off my back. He knows I'm usually pretty exhausted—and he asked where we were going. Everyplace Ka-san and I could think of didn't seem to be safe."

"Reporters were already gathering," Kakashi supplied. "Probably tipped off by someone in the restaurant."

"And then Orochimaru popped out of the woodwork," Lee said excitedly.

"Like the snake he is," Tsunade grumbled.

"Oi," Naruto said. "Orochimaru is actually pretty kind now, Tsunade-basan. Super interested in science and very cool. You should talk to them sometime. They miss you and Master Jiraiya."

"He kidnapped and murdered countless innocents."

"They repented it and discovered painless techniques. They started caring about nin again and began using their medical knowledge to help the world."

Tsunade pressed her lips together and held out her cup for more water. ChōChō obligingly filled it. Naruto rested his elbow on his knee. Some jury members were looking weary. Some of Konoha's leaders were in danger of becoming old geezers.

"So I left you," Kakashi said, "and you and Lee took Sa-kun north to Otogakure no Sato." He gestured for Naruto to continue.

"Ha. I couldn't have managed without Lee. The terrain there is something else, there are natural traps and it's pretty cold at this time of year. I'm really exhausted from trying to keep up with all my duties. Although I suppose Orochimaru would have carried Sa."

Kakashi cocked his head to the side. "He's pushing eighty, isn't he?"

"They," Naruto corrected him. "They're almost eighty. They're gender fluid." Naruto looked at the ceiling, trying to remember where he'd left off.

"So they called for Suigetsu, and between him and Ro-kun, we got Sa-kun's old quarters set up, hosed the puke off him, and put him to bed. We were afraid he might throw up in his sleep and choke, so I told them I'd sit up and watch him. Around dawn he jumped up and ran for the bathroom. I suppose he remembered where to find everything. Anyways, while he was retching up his guts, he called me Usuratonkachi and kicked me out. I got him some water and he thanked me and told me to go to sleep. He was probably surprised to find me lying there when he came back but he didn't say anything, just lay down and turned his back. I tried to talk to him …" To confess and tell him everything would be okay, "but he told me his head was exploding and to shut up." Naruto's mind drifted. He was so mentally fried and sleep deprived, but there was still so much he couldn't leave undone.

"And then?" Kakashi prompted him gently.

"I must have really conked out. I woke up alone around noon. Sa-kun's pyjamas were folded neatly beside the futon and he was gone. I didn't even notice the scroll he left beside me. I looked in the bag Ro-kun had given us because it was really cold in the room. Snowing out, y'know? And he'd stuffed in my cape, so I put it on. Put on thick socks and went to find Sa." Naruto's fists clenched on his knees. "I stepped into the next room and fell in the blood. There was so much of it. I couldn't get up. I couldn't get to him. Suigetsu heard me screaming." He didn't know that he was screaming. "He ran off yelling for Orochimaru."

Sasuke was only wearing britches, and he'd wrapped his abdomen in pristine white bandages. He was crumpled forward, still on his knees, with the sword sticking out of his upper back, over a meter in the air. He must have fallen forward onto it. There was paper on the blade above the hilt, presumably folded around it to prevent his hand from getting cut. Naruto couldn't even turn him face up because he was so stiff. The ends of his hair had fallen into the pool of blood but his face was clean. And peaceful. So white.

Naruto ground his palms into his eyes and tried to get air into his lungs. The world tilted. He felt a rush of air around him as nin moved. He tipped back his head. "Seppuku! He was dead for hours and hours." Lights and noises assaulted him from every direction as his body slammed the floor, but he was drowning in panic. He drew breath to scream but someone grabbed him by the front of his shirt and shook him. Hard and repeatedly.

" 'Tosan!" Boruto barked. " 'Tosan look at me."

Naruto resisted, but small, cool hands pressed against his cheeks. He opened his eyes and stared into Sharingan eyes. Love. Sharingan eyes were a manifestation of love.

" 'Tosan, you said Papa wasn't dead," Sarada said gently. "How was he revived?"

"Orochimaru got working on him right away. I don't know what jutsu they used, but they pulled out the sword and tossed it away. They and Suigetsu crouched over Sa until his limbs stretched out, and used needles for what seemed like hours and hours. I never dreamed in my life that I'd witness a lung transplant on my soulmate." Then Orochimaru guided Naruto to place his hands above their hands to infuse chakra, just as Granny Chiho had once done to revive Gaara. Just when it seemed as though nothing would work, Sasuke drew in a shuddering breath. There was still a gaping hole below his ribs, which Orochimaru resumed stitching with nimble fingers.

"Orochimaru sure knows a lot of colourful swears," Naruto said.

"Papa's alive," Sarada checked.

"He opened his eyes, realized what was happening. He looked so stricken. Why didn't you let me go? he wanted to know, and I gave him the answer he's been waiting twenty-three years for."

Because I'm in love with you, moron. Who's the Dobe now?

*Pein's speech